


A Budding Light

by TheSilverFrames



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Body Horror, Kinda?, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, Spark Splitting, Twins, budding, character in pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 04:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15900771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilverFrames/pseuds/TheSilverFrames
Summary: Budding is a very painful process.





	A Budding Light

**Author's Note:**

> Since I like making things out of order, Breeze Burst is thirteen in this story. This takes place after her sister was created, Storm Bringer joined the Autobots and Prowl and Jazz got together.

It hurt, _ Primus, _ it hurt! Breeze Burst transformed from her alt mode as she entered the Ark, a pained grimace plastered across her faceplates. Her arms instantly wrapped around her chassis and she hung her helm with a whince. She listened as Smokescreen and Cliffjumper transformed behind her and began chatting the mission they just returned from. Jazz and Prowl were a little ahead of her, doing the same as Smokey and Cliff. It wasn’t supposed to be a mission in the first place, just a simple training session for Breeze Burst, but the Decepticons decided that cycle would be the best time to attack, so it turned into one. Breeze whimpered and called her arms a little tighter.

The pain in her spark was excruciating. Ever since the mission ended, her chassis had been hurting  _ so _ bad. It felt like something was stabbing her spark, setting it on fire, and trying to rip it apart  _ all at the same time, _ and it had been like this for  _ groons. _ It was so bad that just  _ walking _ was making it worse, fanning the flames and increasing the pain. Breeze felt coolant form in her optics and slowly slide down her cheeks. She heard Smokescreen and Cliffjumper’s footsteps pass her, but honestly, that was the farthest thing in her processor. She could only think about the pain. There was a pulsating feeling running through her frame and wires, making the cuts from the battle bleed more energon, staining some of her lavender armor with the bright pink liquid.

Breeze’s breathing was shaky and heavy. Her frame was shaking intensely, and she felt nauseous. Pretty soon, she stopped walking altogether because the burning and stabbing had gotten so unbearable that  _ moving _ had become strenuous, and she just stood in the commons holding her chassis while whimpering and panting. Prowl and Jazz both stopped dead in their tracks and turned around simultaneously. “Breeze Burst? Are you alright?” Prowl called out to her. By now, some of the other Autobots in the commons had their attention on Breeze Burst, including Smokescreen and Cliffjumper. Breeze didn’t respond, she just stood and shook in pain.

She managed to weakly send a confirmation that she was not okay and was in pain over her bond with Prowl and Jazz. She immediately gasped sharply afterwards, sending the pulse caused another stabbing pain in her spark that made her frame tense up painfully. Prowl and Jazz were at her side in kliks. “Breeze, what’s wrong? Where are you hurt?” Prowl asked quickly, trying his best to remain calm and level-headed, though it was hard. Breeze whimpered again and tried to speak, but nothing would come out of her vocalizer but a few raspy sounds. Some of the Autobots looked on with worry, while others crowded around to make sure their youngest member was okay.

A loud scraping sound then rang from her chassis, catching everyone off guard. Breeze began crying freely, the scrapping causing more pain in her chassis. Prowl placed a servo on Breeze’s shoulder plate and frowned in concern at her. Jazz mirrored his sparkmate. “Breeze, is somethin’ inside ya chassis?” Jazz asked, voice uncharacteristically serious. Again, Breeze Burst didn’t answer, she couldn’t, it hurt too much. The scrapping became louder and much worse. Breeze suddenly gasped sharply again and began to breathe rapidly. Her chassis was  _ burning, _ it didn’t just feel like it was burning, it was actually burning. White-hot smoldering pain spread quickly around her entire frame and her optics began to flare brightly. “Breeze Burst?” Prowl and Jazz called in unison.

Breeze’s mouth fell open as the pain reached it’s peak. It was horrible. It was terrible. It was  _ overwhelming. _ Her optics flew open and flared even brighter. Static danced around her frame. To everyone’s shock, metallic beads of liquid began farming on her chassis along with lesions of different sizes that dripped the same liquid. Prowl and Jazz jumped away, Breeze’s frame had become so hot that it hurt to touch her armor. It hurt.

_ It hurt.  _

_ It hurt.  _

_ It hurt.  _

_ Hurt!  _

_ Hurt! _

_ Pain! _

_ Burning!! _

Breeze Burst threw her helm back and she began  _ screaming.  _ She screamed  _ long _ and  _ loud. _ She ignored the stabbing it caused in her vocalizer, and just screamed in pain. It was too much, it was horrible, it was  _ overwhelming. _ All of this was blending into this horrific hell of pain, burning and stabbing. Her optics were flared so brightly that it was almost blinding, and the static was building around her frame. Then, it  _ exploded. _ The metallic liquid burst, more flying out of the cracks of her chassis, twisting and farming an almost Cybertronian like figure without armor. It gasped and pushed at Breeze’s chassis, gurgling and wheezing coming from its dripping, misshapen mouth.

Liquid dripped from its body and covered the floor with grey, hot metal. Despite the fact that her optics were practically blinded by the flaring, Breeze could just barely make out the unnerving form that had burst from her chassis. Eventually, the form managed to detach itself from Breeze and fall to the ground with a wet sounding plop. Breeze Burst stumbled back a tad. She had gone dead silent. Some of the liquid was still stuck to her chassis, burning and stinging the metal of her armor. More small bits of it had splashed on to her faceplates, the front of her helm and her arms. Her frame had gone completely numb, heavy. Her optics were still flaring wildly. Everything became blurry, hazy, and Breeze found herself swaying, then she fell onto her back. The last thing she heard before the darkness took her over was her creators shouting her name loudly,  _ then nothing. _

* * *

Breeze Burst groaned softly when her systems began to reboot. When her optics powered on everything was blurry and hazy, and she could only see various shades of orange. It took a few nano-kliks for her vision to adjust, but when it did she gasped. What happened? Her frame felt heavy and sore,  _ really sore,  _ mostly around her chassis. _ “Wh-Wh-ere…?”  _ She started, then she stopped with a wince. She shut her optics tight and grimaced in pain. It felt like her vocalizer was just stabbed by dozens of needles and set aflame. Suddenly she felt a servo gently press against her chassis.  _ “Careful now, _ don’t strain your vocalizer, Breeze Burst. It’s going to take a few more kliks for the medication to set in fully. If you have to speak, speak softly.” A voice advised from above her.

Breeze opened her optics and was met with the face of a concerned looking Ratchet. _ “R-Ratc-het?”  _ She croaked weakly. Ratchet nodded and removed his servo.  _ “Wh-at hap-happened? Wh-y am I so sore?”  _ Breeze asked softly. Ratchet furrowed his optic ranges. “What do you remember?” He questioned. Breeze wracked her processor for a moment. Everything was a little fuzzy, but she could make out somethings.  _ “I-I remem-ber c-coming back from my-my training se-session with-with Sire, D-Dad, uncle Smokey, and-and Cliff. My chassis h-hurt really bad. I could barely-barely walk be-cause it made it w-worse. I remember that I-I stopped walk-ing because it got so bad. It felt like my sp-spark was about to explode, then it became so painful that I started crying and-and screaming. The last thing I r-remember was feeling something clawing at my-my chassis, bursting out and me screaming, then just… darkness.” _ She mumbled quietly, shivering at the memory.

She looked up at Ratchet, who had an expression of worry on his faceplates, and frowned. “Breeze Burst, can you describe the pain for me? How bad was it?” He coaxed in a kind voice so rarely heard from the medic. Breeze whimpered slightly. “I-It was  _ really bad,  _ Ratchet. It felt like something was incinerating my spark  _ while _ stabbing it repeatedly at the same time.” She revealed. The medicine Ratchet had given her had kicked into full gear, so she could speak a little better without her vocalizer burning badly. Ratchet nodded sympathetical. Breeze looked at him pleadingly. “Ratchet,  _ what _ happened to me? Why did my spark hurt so much? What was the clawing?  _ What came out of me??” _ She asked, her voice full of worry and fear.

Ratchet sighed. “Well, it’s hard to explain, but I’ll try my best.” He began. “I assume when the Decepticons attacked you were injured, judging by the amount of dents,  _ especially _ to your chassis and the cuts on your exposed wiring. But, you sustained more damage than you may have thought.” He eyed the young femme. “Tell me, were you protecting your chassis while battling?” He asked her. Breeze shook her helm slowly. Ratchet gave her a stern look. “You should be protecting your chassis when in a battle, Breeze Burst. Even with your armor, your spark is very vulnerable to damage when your chassis is repeatedly struck. I’m going to have a talk with Smokescreen and your Dad about this later.” He huffed.

He wasn't upset with Breeze Burst about this, she didn’t know any better, she was learning after all. But Jazz and Smokescreen should know better. Those two would be getting an autio-full later. “Anyway, your chassis wasn’t the only thing that took damage, your spark was damaged as well. Quite badly, might I add. The pain you were experiencing was from your spark being  _ split in two.”  _ He explained, tone dead serious. Breeze Burst froze and fear erupted in her frame. Her spark was  _ split in half?! _ How was she still online?! “Sp-Split i-in two??” She whispered shakily. “Yes, split in two. You’re very lucky, Breeze Burst. If you had sustained enough damage, you could have fallen into a coma, or even worse, went offline. However, the fact that the damage your spark endure caused it to split is quite rare and might have saved you a great deal of pain.”

Breeze stared at him in shock.  _ Saved _ her pain? How in the name of Primus did  _ any _ of that  _ save her pain?!  _ “But, all I felt was pain!” She exclaimed in disbelief. “You did, but had your spark not split, you could’ve gone into shock. Going into shock means you’re in so much pain that your frame completely locks up. You were lucky.” Ratchet explained. Breeze shivered at the thought of being in more pain. Ratchet continued, “As I was saying, your spark splitting saved you pain, and kept you from needing to stay in the med-bay for long to recover.” He elaborated. Well, that all made sense, but that didn’t answer the biggest question. “Ratchet… what came out of me? I saw something, I can’t remember what, but I saw  _ something.” _ She muttered quietly.

Ratchet paused, then he sighed again. “It’s… what happened to one half of your spark.” He revealed. Breeze blinked and stared at the medic in confusion. “What do you mean? What do you mean it’s what happened to the other half of my spark??” She questioned. Ratchet’s gaze shifted from Breeze to behind her. “The answer is right behind you laying on the burth.” He gestured behind her. Breeze followed his gaze and froze when her optics landed on what was in the burth. A femme, clearly unconscious, was laying there. Breeze nearly fainted when she saw her frame. It was almost identical to hers. Same helm, same size, the only real difference was that she was a light red color with darker shades on her helm and chassis, the fins on her helm were more rounded, and she had black stripes alongside her white ones.

She also had an orange, see-through visor. Breeze Burst sat up quickly and stared, wide-opticed at the femme. What? How? How??  _ How!?  _ “She-She looks  _ just _ like me! Just with a different color scheme and a visor!” She exclaimed, pointing at the femme. Ratchet nodded in agreement. Breeze continued to stare at her. “Did… did my spark… create her?” She asked with uncertainty. “Yes. When your spark split, it caused her to form.” He replied. Breeze turned and raised an optic range at him. “But, I thought there were only three ways of Cybertronian reproduction, the erm…  _ intimate _ way, building a new bot and via spark bonding.” She said, both perplexed and still in a bit of a shock. 

“Technically, there are four, however, the fourth way hasn’t been used for vorns. Tell me, have you ever heard of the term ‘budding’, Breeze Burst?” He asked. Breeze shook her helm. “I didn’t expect you to. You see, budding is a very outdated version of Cybertronian reproduction, one of the earliest versions actually. During the very start of the war, we Cybertronians opted for a quick way to have offspring, pregnancy proved to be rather strenuous and left bots vulnerable to attacks, building only had a small chance of working, and bonding had become rare due to the constant work the war required. We discovered a way to reproduce quickly soon though, and that was via budding.”

“Budding was normally achieved by a ritual, and the process was very painful. Most bots only budded once, they found the process to be traumatizing. Bubbles and lesions of red-hot liquid metal would form inside a bot's chassis, accompanied by an energy discharge. The pain would grow, then the liquid metal would burst from the spark chamber and out of the chassis, forming a protoform and detaching itself from the bot. Usually, this process is consented to, which is why there is a ritual, but there have been cases of accidental budding due to different factors. A split spark happens to be one of them.” 

“These cycles, budding is no longer allowed as a form of reproduction because of the trauma and pain it causes. I myself have never seen one happen. I only know about it because of stories and research.” He explained, crossing his arms and staring at the femme laying on the burth. Breeze slowly let the information sink in. She had, essentially, sprouted a clone from her chassis.  _ Primus almighty, _ that is horrifying. “Do… Do Sire, Dad, Switchbolt, and Storm Bringer know?” She asked softly. “Prowl and Jazz were the ones that brought you both here, so they are aware, I don’t know about Switchbolt or Storm Bringer though.” He admitted. 

Breeze eyed the femme next to her. She looked  _ just _ like her. It was so  _ unnerving, _ like looking in a mirror but your reflection is distorted. Breeze felt a chill run up her back strut. This was so creepy, so weird, so,  _ so-!  _ So  _ wrong!  _ A bot as young as her should not have experienced this!  _ No _ bot should have experienced this. She felt  _ disgusted _ and  _ violated _ by this whole ordeal. But above all,  _ she was scared. _ She could have been  _ offlined, _ and all because she didn’t protect her chassis! “I know you’re scared, Breeze Burst. This was a terrible experience, and I am so sorry you had to go through this. I promise to help you recover from this. We can talk one on one. It’s my job to assure everyone in the Ark in both mentally  _ and _ physically healthy.” Ratchet offered gently, placing a comforting servo on her shoulder plate.  _ “Thank you, Ratchet…”  _ Breeze replied, almost inaudibly.

A soft groan caught their attention. The femme on the burth shifted around, and her optics powered on. She sat up a bit, rubbing the side of her helm and looking around the med-bay. “Wh-Where am I?” She asked, though it didn’t appear the question was directed them. It looked like she was just talking to herself. She didn’t even notice that they were there. “You’re in the med-bay, young one.” Ratchet spoke up. The femme jumped slightly and let out a tiny squeak. She whirled around, sat up fully and stared wide-opticed at the two. “Who are you?” She asked, pointing at both of them. Ratchet circled around the burth Breeze was sat on and walked over to her.

“I’m Ratchet, the Autobot medic. How are you feeling?” He inquired. The red femme thought, then she nodded. “I’m fine...  _ I think? _ My helm kinda hurts a little, but it’s not that bad.” She replied, rudding the side of her helm again. Ratchet smiled and nodded in understanding. “That shouldn’t last long. It’s a side effect of developing your processor. It should stop within a few groons.” He explained with a chuckle. “Ahhh, okay then.” She replied, smiling back at him. Then she caught Breeze out of the corner of her optics and tilted her helm to look at her. “Who are you?” She asked. Breeze frowned slightly. “I’m Breeze Burst, a young Autobot in training.” She introduced herself with a lazy wave and a frown.

She was far too shaken up, drained and uncomfortable from this entire cycle to properly socialize, really she wanted nothing more than to retire to her burthroom and recharge for the rest of the cycle so that maybe should at least  _ try _ to forget about what happened to her. The femme didn’t seem to take any hint that Breeze wasn’t up to talking, so she grinned at her and waved back. “Nice to meet you, Breeze Burst!” She chirped happily and pointed her thumb at herself. “I’m… um…” She stopped, blinking slowly. She racked her processor for a moment, then she turned at stared at Ratchet. “Who am I?” She asked in confusion. Ratchet placed a servo on her shoulder plate.

“That’s not for me to decide, young one. It’s up to you to choose your designation. It doesn't need to be this cycle, or the next, take as long as you need.” He said in a kind, and almost Sire-like, tone. The femme started at him, then she grinned. “Okay, I’ll think hard on it!” She beamed. Ratchet took a step back from the femme. “Alright, since you too are having no pains or problems. You’re both free to leave the Med-bay, but before you do, I want you both to know that we will be meeting a few times for three orbital cycles. Since this event was brought on by a split spark, both of you only have half a spark. That means your going to be weak for a little while, so no training or straining work for one orbital cycle. I will do scans of your sparks when we meet to assure they’re growing exceptionally. Am I clear?” He asked, eyeing both bots.

Breeze Burst nodded tiredly. “Yes, sir!” The other femme agreed. Ratchet smiled at both of them and watched as they got off the burths, Breeze a lot more sluggishly, and took their leave. Right before exiting the Med-bay, Breeze looked over her shoulder at Ratchet. “Ratchet, do you know where Sire and Dad are?” She asked. Ratchet thought for a moment. “Last I heard from Prowl, they were in his office.” He responded. Breeze thanked him and continued on her way. The now unnamed femme walked beside her, looking around the halls of the Ark with curiosity and intrigue. Occasionally, she threw a question Breeze’s way and she answered as calmly as she could. Perhaps Sire and Dad could keep this new bot occupied so she could rest in her burthroom.

  
_ Oh, Breeze Burst could tell that the next few cycles were going to be interesting. _


End file.
